bookbashuk Page 136
Page 136
"We've pretty much figured out the pattern of the second basement level. Staying too long will taint you with a strange power. Starting from the moment you enter, you'll enter a cycle after twenty minutes. The second cycle has a time limit of fifteen minutes, the third should be ten minutes, then five minutes, until it decreases to zero, which means you'll be trapped on this level forever and unable to escape."
"It's really difficult."
Asuna Yuuki frowned slightly, deep in thought.
"Having just come up from the dangerous third underground level, any normal person would choose to proceed with extreme caution. Even if you know the correct route, it's not easy to cross two areas and get here in twenty minutes while constantly being on guard against your surroundings. Not to mention the evil spirits blocking the way. And after falling into the loop for the first time, not only is the loop time reduced, but the player's physical and mental strength will definitely be depleted as well."
"Actually, it's not that difficult."
Hearing Asuna Yuuki's words, Asagiri smiled and said.
"The second phase of the dungeon shouldn't be this difficult. There should be some kind of mechanism to reduce the difficulty, such as retreating to the third underground level. The pattern of the second level shouldn't affect the third level. Then, after discussing the route and getting sufficient rest on the third level, we can continue to break through the second underground level. Of course, the time limit for the loop definitely won't be reset, and..."
At this point, Asagiri suddenly changed the subject and said in a calm tone.
"If enough players gather on the third basement level and then attack the second basement level together, they can disperse the power of the evil spirits. Some players are unlucky enough to encounter monsters like the twin brothers, but some players will only encounter one or two evil spirits, or even no obstacles at all. In this way, let alone the 15-minute time limit, even 10 minutes is enough to complete the level."
Upon hearing Asagiri's words, Yuuki Asuna nodded as if she understood, then, remembering what the "doctor" had said earlier, she looked at Asagiri and said.
"'Shadow'? You already have a codename with Blackwatch..."
"Handsome, right?"
"Um... that codename is indeed pretty cool, but that's not what I wanted to talk about..."
Seeing Yuuki Asuna's speechless expression, Kato Megumi smoothed her long black hair and said softly.
"Violet means that you've come under Blackwatch's watchful eye, and you're worried about any unexpected dangers you might encounter."
"Yes, that's what I mean."
Asuna Yuuki breathed a sigh of relief, patted Megumi Kato on the shoulder, and her eyes showed emotion.
"Luckily, you're the only normal person in the team, otherwise I wouldn't be able to communicate with those two."
Kato Megumi smiled gently and said softly.
"You're welcome."
"Oh, is that what you mean? Don't worry, it's only a matter of time before Blackwatch takes notice."
Hearing Asagiri's relaxed reply, Iwanaga Kotoko smiled and said the same.
"After all, Leade's abilities are not only powerful but also very peculiar. He can directly control such a powerful and bizarre being as Alice. It is only natural that Blackwatch would target him."
"No, I am not the leader."
Asagiri crossed her arms in front of her chest, exuding an imposing aura.
"From now on, please call me Lord Shadow!"
"Forehead……"
Asuna Yuuki simply couldn't resist the urge to make sarcastic remarks.
"Shadow is Shadow...do we have to add 'adult' after it? I can't come up with that. Besides, when I was giving you the operation codename, didn't you say it was too chuunibyou (a Japanese term for someone with delusions of grandeur) and that's why you chose the simple and unpretentious 'Leader'? Why have you changed your mind now?"
"You don't understand this."
Asagiri, with an inscrutable expression, slowly began to speak.
"Giving yourself a cool nickname is called being a chuunibyou (a person with delusions of grandeur), but if the enemy gives you one, it's a completely different story. It's a symbol of being so powerful that it instills fear in the enemy!"
"What are you burning...?"
Just as Asuna Yuuki finished speaking, the fire door to the fire escape was suddenly pushed open.
"You! You're still here! We've found you!"
Seeing the doctor barge in with a fanatical expression, Asuna and the others looked wary, but Asagiri remained seated on the stairs, looking at him with a smile.
"What, you're determined to acknowledge me as your father today?"
The doctor's face contorted in a grotesque grimace as he roared.
"get down!"
“Your dad doesn’t want to come down. Come on, you come up.”
Looking at the doctor who was so close yet didn't step up the stairs, Asagiri said in a highly sarcastic tone.
"Oh, you can't get up here, right? How pathetic, a prisoner who can't even leave his own floor, tsk tsk tsk, laughable."
"You guy..."
The doctor's face was contorted like a monster as he roared.
"How did you do that?! The black humanoid creature you're controlling, the strange appearance of that little girl, and that girl with twin tails—what are they all?! What...what is your ability?! Tell me!!!"
"That's enough, she's acting like a yandere."
Faced with the doctor's insane questioning, Asagiri remained calm, even appearing languid, as if he were not in a terrifying mental hospital, but in a resort with warm sunshine, soft sand, and an endless sea.
"Even if you're desperate, I can't tell you, and you'll never get the answer. How pathetic! How exactly do I manipulate the supernatural? It's so intriguing."
Upon hearing Asagiri's words, the doctor, a research fanatic, was about to explode. However, after a few seconds, he suddenly regained his rationality and calmness, and slowly spoke, uttering an unexpected and astonishing statement.
"If you tell me the secret of your abilities, I will report to my superiors and allow you and your companions to join Blackwatch."
Seeing the incredulous look on Asagiri's face, the doctor revealed a strange smile.
"How about it, an organization as powerful as Blackwatch..."
Asagiri interrupted the doctor directly, speaking bluntly.
"You've misunderstood. What shocks me is the extent of your brain damage."
"You want me to join Blackwatch? Don't be ridiculous."
81
Chapter 81: Rikka Sakuragawa's Cooperation.
"What are you talking about...?"
Upon hearing Asagiri's refusal, the doctor looked incredulous.
"We are Blackwatch, do you know what kind of organization we are? Do you even understand what kind of entity Blackwatch is..."
"whispering sound."
Asagiri shook her head, her voice filled with sarcasm and contempt.
"Isn't it just a mere military armed organization?"
"Military armed organization? As expected, you know nothing at all."
Upon hearing Asagiri's words, the doctor's face showed disdain, and he immediately spoke up.
"Blackwatch is not such a simple existence. Our goal is to use scientific methods such as genetic engineering and mechanical modification, combined with the control of the supernatural forces, to achieve the evolution of the entire human race and ultimately wrest control of this world back from the supernatural. We are a great organization created to save the world!"
"Oh I got it."
Asagiri nodded as if suddenly understanding, then chuckled softly.
"But now, aren't you still a ghost trapped in the Giant Mountain Mental Hospital, unable to leave forever? What a failed experiment."
"Failure? You're saying I failed!?"
The doctor's eyes widened in fury as he roared in anger.
"I didn't fail; I simply volunteered to be in charge of this area!"
"Ugh, how stupid."
Kotoko Iwanaga smiled and said.
"With just a few words of provocation, you spilled everything and made Blackwatch the person in charge of this eerie area. Blackwatch is really stupid."
"Huh? You...you're deliberately trying to trick me?"
Only then did the doctor realize what was happening. He raised his hands and tore at his own face, scratching his face so badly that deep wounds exposed to the bone, his eyes filled with a twisted look.
"I...I actually fell for their trap...No, this isn't me, it shouldn't be me..."
"Do you really think that the power of the Strange Flower is so easy to control?"
Kotoko Iwanaga raised her cane, pointing it at the doctor standing there, a rare serious expression on her face.
"Humans are humans, and monsters are monsters. Do you think your soul won't be twisted just because you haven't been through experiments? The moment you chose to become a monster, the moment you broke that boundary, your soul was already completely twisted. You didn't even realize it yourself. You've completely lost your rationality and become a monster driven by twisted desires."
Kotoko Iwanaga's eyes revealed undisguised disgust as she slowly spoke.
"You shall remain here until your soul is utterly rotten."
As the four members of the team turned around and headed up the stairs, the doctor's face became increasingly distorted, and he stretched out his hand as if in a frenzy.
"No, don't go! Tell me... tell me!"
It stretched out its bony hand, but the moment it crossed the boundary between the stairs and the ground, its hand instantly began to twist and vanish like ashes.
"No...my experiment..."
……
On the other side, after turning the corner of the stairs, Asuna Yuuki, who was walking at the front, saw a closed fire door with a sign next to it that read "-1".
"Wait a moment."
Just as Asuna Yuuki was about to step upstairs, Kotoko Iwanaga reached out her cane and gently placed it on her shoulder, her brows furrowed.
"Behind the door... there is an extremely powerful and eerie aura, far stronger than the twin brothers, Chris Walker, the groom, and the doctor combined."
"what?"
Upon hearing Kotoko Iwanaga's words, Asuna Yuuki and Megumi Kato's expressions changed, while Asagiri smiled as if she had expected it.
"No wonder, the underground level is where the BOSS battle takes place. That explains why there's a safe space for us to rest and recuperate."
"Safe space?"
"Yes."
Asagiri pointed to the stairs beneath her feet, saying nonchalantly.
"This is neither the second basement level nor the first basement level; it's a fire escape staircase located between the two levels. Isn't that a safe space?"
Now that you mention it... it does seem to be true.
Yuuki Asuna then realized that the demons in the Giant Mountain Mental Hospital seemed to be earthbound spirits, unable to leave their respective floors without external intervention such as throwing Eddie Gruskin down the stairs like Asagiri did.
The stairwell, located in the gap between the first and second basement levels but not belonging to any particular floor, is a safe space that evil spirits cannot easily enter.
"I've confirmed it."
Asagiri sat down again in the stairwell, leaning against the wall, and said in a relaxed tone.
"The doctors were so anxious, but they still couldn't catch up with us, which means the evil spirits can't enter here. So we can use this safe space to rest for a while longer."
Upon hearing this, Asuna Yuuki couldn't help but smile helplessly. She straightened the hem of her light armor, sat down next to Asagiri, and chuckled.
"So you were just trying to test this idea. I thought you were just arguing with that doctor because you thought it would be funny to see him get angry."
That's part of the reason.
Asagiri shrugged, seemingly unconcerned.
"In short, let's rest and adjust our condition here first. If other players can also get here, we can consider whether to cooperate."
"Huh? Should we team up with other players?"
"It's called a collaboration, but it's pretty much the same as last time."
Asagiri explained in a calm tone.
"We don't know what kind of dangers we'll encounter on the next level, but we have the Phantom's abilities. Necro won't be attacked by the strange beings. When we're with other players, we won't be the enemy's first target. From this perspective, even if we team up with a few weak players, we can still obtain information about the enemy's abilities by having them kill us."
"Yeah, I agree."
Yuuki Asuna nodded first, then suddenly seemed to think of something, staring at Asagiri's face, and hesitated.
"You...you wouldn't be waiting for that Sakuragawa Rikka, would you?"
Don't get jealous unnecessarily.
Asagiri waved his hand, his brows furrowed slightly, his voice carrying an undeniable righteousness.